Sweet Morsels of Life Using the Earth's Bounty

For the past four months, I have been spending most of my spare time in the garden.

My garden is not overly huge. I have nine beds that are 4x4 feet done in the square gardening way. I have three beds that I started this year that I did in the lasagna gardening manner. I also have numerous boxes done in a homemade earth box. In these various areas I have planted the usual summer garden vegetables- tomatoes, corn, beans, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, etc.

In the lasagna garden, I planted 12 cherry tomato plants. I planted the cherry tomatoes, knowing the other varieties would take much longer to harvest, I wanted to be having some tomatoes much sooner. Lo and behold, not only did I start getting the tomatoes over a month ago, they also keep going!  The plants have reached over 8 feet tall, with hundreds of bright little tomatoes all over those vines. Every time I go look at my garden, they remind of grape vines. Succulent red fruits that when bitten into, produce an oozing juice.

Having so many tomatoes, have been a challenge. We have given many, many away. I now have in my fridge three 5 quart pails filled with the tasty morsels. My challenge s to find different ways of serving these.

While searching the net, I came across the recipe for roasted cherry tomatoes. I had never thought of roasting the morsels, so I decided to give them a try.

I washed then dried the tomatoes, then placed them on a roasting sheet. I then drizzled olive oil over them, added about six cloves of garlic, mixed all of this together. I placed them in a preheated oven ar 350 degrees for about an hour.  After the hour, they were cooked, but I wanted some caramelization
so I turned the oven up to 450 and roasted them for about another 10 minutes.

The result was sweet morsels of tomatoes with just a hint of brown to the tops. I served these succulent morsels over some freshly cooked noodles.

Never would I have thought something so simple would taste so DELICIOUS! The roasting brought out the concentrated sweetness of the little tomatoes.

Just a note- I did leave the tomatoes whole. It made the dish much simpler. Also with leaving them whole, the juice was still slightly encased in the tomato. It also made it a much prettier dish. A small dash of fresh basil or parsley would also add a bit to the presentation.

Enjoy!